Diablo 3 Auction House FAQ and Information

Cheats and Walkthroughs

Blizzard has released this Diablo 3 auction house FAQ to introduce you to all the ins-and-outs of the system. Read on for the full details about Diablo 3's auction house system and let us know what questions you still have burning in your virtual wallets. We'll do our best to get the straight info from Blizzard.

Acquiring epic new gear for your characters has always been a big part of the Diablo experience. Because of this, players found numerous ways to trade and otherwise obtain items both within and outside of the game. Many of these methods were inconvenient and either tedious (e.g. advertising for a desired trade in Battle.net chat channels and waiting for responses) or unsafe (e.g. giving credit card information to third-party trading sites). With Diablo III, we’re introducing a powerful auction house system that will provide a safe, fun,and easy-to-use way for players to buy and sell the loot they find in the game.Two different versions of the auction house will be available in Diablo III: one based on in-game gold, which players acquire through their adventures, and one basedon real-world currency.

What’s the difference between the gold-based auction house and the real-money auction house?

The gold-based auction house uses in-game gold for purchases and sales. With the real-money auction house, players will be able to conduct these transactions using actual currency from an authorized payment method or using their Battle.net Balance. Players can choose to participate in whichever version of the auction house they prefer, on a per-transaction basis. Note that the real-money auction house will not be available in all regions at launch. See the Regional section of this FAQ for more information.

How does the auction house system work?

Players can open the auction house interface prior to entering a game by clicking the “Auction House” button on the character screen. Items can be sold from the shared stash (storage shared among all the Diablo III characters in a game region on your Battle.net account) or from any individual character’s inventory. When posting the item, the seller picks whether it will be sold in the gold-based auction house or the real-money auction house. The item is then held by the auction house system until the listing expires(all listings last for a maximum of 48 hours) or a purchase is made.Items that are not sold are returned to the seller, and items that are sold are delivered to the winning bidder. In each case, the item appears on the player’s ”Completed” page in the auction house interface, where the item can then be moved to the player’s shared stash.

The auction house system will deduct a nominal transaction fee from the seller if the item was sold. For the real-money auction house, players will have a few different options for how to pay for item purchases and receive funds for item sales, as discussed elsewhere in this FAQ.Additionally, there are differences in how this system will work in different regions of the world -- see the Regional section of the FAQ for more information.

How is the transaction fee determined?

In the gold-based auction house, a 15% transaction fee will be deducted from the final sale price of a successful auction.

In the real-money auction-house, for equipment such as weapons and armor, a fixed transaction fee will be deducted from the seller for each piece of equipment successfully sold. This fee is assessed only if the item is sold. For commodities such as crafting materials, gems, gold, and other “stackable” items, a 15% transaction fee will be deducted from the total sale price. Specific details related to the transaction fee for each real-money auction house are as follows:

Auction House (Currency)

Transaction Fee (Equipment)

Transaction Fee (Commodities)

USD

$1.00

15%

MXN

MXN 12.00

15%

BRL

BRL 1.80

15%

ARS

ARS 4.50

15%

CLP

CLP 500

15%

AUD

$1.00

15%

GBP

1£

15%

EUR

€1

15%

RUB

50 RUB

15%

Note that additional fees apply for players who choose to receive the proceeds of their successful auction via PayPal™ (in regions where this option is available). See the Functionality section of this FAQ for further details.

Why is the transaction fee for commodities in the real-money auction house percentage-based rather than fixed, as it is for equipment?

Unlike equipment, which is bought and sold on a single-item basis, commodities can be listed in bulk amounts within a single listing, and it’s likely that that listing will be divided up and sold to multiple different buyers. Because of this difference, a fixed per-transaction fee for commodities could have resulted in scenarios where a seller was paying the flat-rate fee multiple times within a single listing. Ultimately, our goal was to come up with a fee structure that was both fair and straightforward, and a percentage-based fee made the most sense for commodities.

Is there a limit on how many active auctions I can have at a time?

Accounts can have a maximum of 10 active auctions per gold- and real-money auction house. (Note that each available currency has its own independent auction house, so this limit applies separately to each -- see the Regional section of this FAQ for further details.) Items that have expired and been returned to the seller will count toward this limit until the player moves the items to his or her stash.

Our goal with all of our games is to ensure players have a highly enjoyable, rewarding, and secure experience. Acquiring items has always been an important part of the Diablo series, but the previous games have not had a robust, centralized system for facilitating trades, and as a result players have turned to inconvenient and potentially unsafe alternatives, such as third-party real-money-trading organizations. Many of the transactions between players and these organizations led to a poor player experience and countless customer service issues involving scams and item/account theft, to name a few. To that end, we wanted to create a convenient, powerful, and fully integrated tool to meet the demand of players who wished to purchase or sell items for real-world currency, and who would likely have turned to a less-secure third-party service for this convenience.

How will the real-money auction house work?

Players will be able to make purchases in the real-money auction house using a registered form of payment attached to their Battle.net account. (Note that not all Battle.net payment methods are supported by the auction house.)In addition to these payment options, players will also have the option to use their Battle.net Balance to make auction house purchases. Battle.net Balance can also be used to purchase a range of digital products available directly through Battle.net, including digital Blizzard Entertainment games and paid services, to name a few examples.

When players place an item up for sale in the real-money auction house, they must first choose whether to receive the proceeds of the sale in their Battle.net Balance or through an approved third-party payment service such as PayPal (in regions where available). Players must decide which method to use at the time the auction is posted, and cannot switch methods after an item goes on sale.

Note that if receiving the proceeds of a sale into a player’s Battle.net Balance would put that player’s balance over the maximum permitted balance, the player must receive the proceeds through an approved third-party payment service such as PayPal (in regions where available). In regions where an approved third-party payment service is not available, once a player’s Battle.net Balance reaches the maximum permitted balance, the player cannot make further sales on the real-money auction house.

How do players get “cash” from real-money auction house sales, instead of having the proceeds go into their Battle.net Balance?

In certain regions, players will have the option of attaching an account with an approved third-party payment service such as PayPal to their Battle.net account. Once this has been completed, proceeds from the sale of items in the real-money auction house can be deposited into their third-party payment service account. “Cashing out” would then be handled through the third-party payment service. Note that sending proceeds to PayPal will be subject toan additional 15% transfer fee if the auction succeeds, calculated based on the amount being transferred. Note that additional fees from PayPal may apply.Also, any proceeds from the sale of items in the real-money auction house that have been sent to your Battle.net Balance will not be transferable to the third-party payment service account.Not all regions will support this advanced feature at launch.For more information on cash-out availability and methods, see the Functionality section of this FAQ.

Is the real-money version of the auction house optional?

Yes, the real-money auction house is available as an option for players who wish to purchase or sell Diablo III items for real money. Players are also able to buy and sell items through the gold-based auction house, and they can trade items with each other as well through direct character-to-character in-game trading.

Acquiring items has always been a core part of the Diablo series. With the previous Diablo games, many players have shown a great interest in selling items they’ve acquired in the game or buying them for their characters using real-world currency, turning to potentially unsafe avenues to accomplish this goal. The currency-based version of the auction house provides players with an easy-to-use, Blizzard-sanctioned way to collect money for items obtained while playing Diablo III. And, it helps protect players from scams and disreputable third-party sites by providing a secure, in-game method to search for and purchase items posted by other players that are a perfect fit for their character and play style.

The real-money auction house is completely optional.Players who aren't interested in paying real money for items will still be able to rely on items they acquire through their own adventures, and they'll also be able to trade with friends and use the full-featured gold-based auction house.

Can I play on a server without a real-money version of the auction house?

We want to provide a secure, fun environment for our players to purchase and sell in-game items using gold or real money and have no plans to divide the community. Players are free to participate in the gold-based auction house or the real-money auction house, or to opt out of using any of the auction houses at all, progressing through Diablo III using only the items they obtain through their own adventures or direct trade with other players.Note that Hardcore characters will have access to an exclusive gold-only auction house that can only be accessed by other Hardcore characters.
Does Blizzard plan to post weapons, armor, and other such items for sale in the real-money version of the auction house?

The currency-based auction house is a place for players to purchase or sell items they’ve obtained within the game. Blizzard does not plan to post items that affect gameplay in the auction house directly.
Will Blizzard sell anything directly through the gold- or real-money auction house?

All items in the gold- and real-money auction house are placed up for sale by other players. We don't have any plans at this time to post items for salein the gold- or real-money auction house directly.

Does the real-money auction house signify a shift in Blizzard’s business and revenue model?

We’ve always tailored our business models to match what we’ve felt would be most appropriate and effective for each game and in each region, and that’s the case with Diablo III as well. The item-based nature of Diablo gameplay has always lent itself to an active trade-based ecosystem, and a significant part of this trade has been conducted through insecure third-party organizations. This has led to numerous customer-service and game-experience issues that we’ve needed to account for. Our primary goal with the Diablo III auction house system is for it to serve as the foundation for a player-driven economy that’s safe, fun, and accessible to everyone.

What’s Blizzard’s cut?

As with other online auction sites and real-world auction houses, our fee structure varies by region. We collect a fixed transaction fee for each piece of equipment sold in the real-money auction house, as well as a percentage-based transaction fee for commodities sold in the real-money auction house. These fees are only assessed if the items are sold. For players who opt to have the proceeds of their auction house sales go to their third-party payment service account (such as PayPal) instead of to their Battle.net Balance, or for those who have exceeded their maximum permitted Battle.net Balance and are required to use a third-party payment service, Blizzard will collect a separate transfer fee. See above for details on the transaction fee in each region; refer to the Functionality section for more information on transfer fees and maximum Battle.net Balance.
Why would I even want to use the gold-based auction house?

We recognize that not all players would prefer or have the means to participate in the real-money auction house, and it was important to us to provide these players with a full-featured alternative.

Can we buy gold from the real-money auction house?

Players will be able to buy and sell gold through the real-money auction house at whatever the current market price is, as established by the player community.
If I no longer need an item I bought in the auction house, can I relist it in the auction house?

Yes. Once you've purchased an item and sent it to your stash, you can do anything with it that you could if you had acquired it through your own adventures. You’re free to use it yourself, or trade it to another character or relist it in either the gold-based or real-money auction house. In fact, you can generally do any combination of these things -- for example, you can purchase an item in the auction house, use it for a while, and then relist it or trade it to another character. Aside from certain quest items, there will be very few (if any) items that will be “soulbound” to your character and therefore untradable.

AUCTION HOUSE - FUNCTIONALITY

What items can be bought and sold on the auction house in Diablo III?

Nearly everything that drops on the ground, including gold, can be traded with other players directly or bought and sold through the auction-house system.Aside from certain quest items, there will be very few (if any) items that will be “soulbound” to your character and therefore untradable.We are also planning to allow players to buy and sell characters in the auction house at some point in the future and will have more details to share on that at a later date.

Equipment is anything a player would equip on a character, such as weapons and armor, and which does not “stack” in the character’s inventory. Commodities are any non-unique or “stackable” goods that players find, including gems, crafting materials, gold, and other types of functionally identical goods that exist in large quantities. The auction house handles equipment (and other unique items)a bit differently from commodities -- read on for more information.

What are recommended items and "smart searching"?

When players launch the auction house interface, they’ll be able to select any Diablo III character associated with their Battle.net account. Before you perform a search, you’ll see a list of “recommended” available equipment that the system has determined would be suited to your character, based on which item slots have available upgrades and which upgrades would be most beneficial to the character. You can also search for specific equipment slots, level ranges, stats, and other criteria to match the requirements of a particular character build.

How does bidding work?

For equipment such as weapons and armor, players are able to set a maximum bid to engage in automatic bidding; the system will automatically place a bid at the lowest possible winning price, in 5% increments (but no lower than 10 gold / $0.10 USD or equivalent), up to the maximum the player sets. If you want to purchase an item immediately, you can also choose to buy out the auction for the listed buyout price (if the seller offers one).Players are able to check the status of their bids on the "Auctions" tab of the auction house interface.

For commodities such as crafting materials, gems, gold,and other stackable items, players simply search for the commodity they wish to purchase and enter the quantity they’d like to buy. (Players can’t bid on commodities, only buy them out.) The auction house system will automatically present the player with an estimated cost based on the best prices it could find on the market. The player can then choose to proceed with the transaction, at which point the auction house system will re-scan the marketplace for updated pricing. If the updated price is the same or lower than the quoted price, the transaction will go through at the updated price. If the updated price is higher than the estimated price, the transaction will not go through, and the player can opt to search again.

Our goal with the commodities system is to eliminate “search spam” for many commonly auctioned items, making it so players do not have to flip through dozens of pages of listings to ensure they’re getting the best value.

How do I pay for items?

For the gold-based auction house, purchases will be made using in-game gold. For the real-money auction house, players can make purchases using a supported payment method attached to their Battle.net account, such as a major credit card or an attached PayPal account. Players will also have the option to use their Battle.net Balance to pay for purchases in the real-money auction house.

How do I receive the items I’ve won?

After winning an auction, the item will be available to pick up through the Completed tab in the built-in auction house interface in the Diablo III client. Players will then be able to immediately send that item to their shared stash (storage shared among all the Diablo III characters on a Battle.net account) or repost the item in the auction house.

How do I sell items?

From the auction house interface, players will be able to select items from their shared stash or from a specific character's inventory. They will then be able to post items for sale by listing a starting bid (for equipment only) and/or buyout price (optional for equipment; required for commodities). The item is removed from the seller’s inventory immediately upon posting the auction, so you are unable to list the same item in multiple auction houses. All auctions last for 48 hours or until the item is sold. Auctions can also be cancelled within a specific time frame -- see below.

When you sell a commodity such as crafting materials or gold, you select a stack size and a buyout price, and the auction house automatically adds the items to a unified marketplace pool. When a potential buyer searches for that item, the auction house system automatically tries to find the best prices on the market. If your items are priced lowest at the time, the system will draw from your listing to fulfill the buyer’s request. Because of the way the system works,it’s possible only part of your stack will be included in a purchase; in that case, the rest will remain in the auction house until another player buys the rest, the auction expires, or you cancel the auction.

Is there a limit on the number of items I can sell in real-money and gold auction houses?

To ensure that players focus on listing high-quality items that have a good chance of being purchased, there is a limit on how many active auctions a player can have at one time. Players can have up to 10 active auctions in the gold-based auction house, and 10 active auctions per currency-based auction house. Note that depending on the country of residence registered to your Battle.net account, you may have access to the auction houses for multiple different currencies – see the Regional section for more information.

Note that a stack of commodities placed up for sale in one transaction counts as one active auction until all of the items in the stack are sold. Expired auction items listed in your “Completed” tab count as active auctions until you move them to your stash.

What happens if an auction I posted does not sell?

If an auction you posted does not sell after 48 hours, the item will be returned to you via the “Completed” tab in the auction house interface. From there, you must claim the item and send it back to your shared stash before you can use it in the game. You can have a maximum of 50 items in your Completed tab, including a mix of successful bids and expired/unsuccessful auctions, so be sure to move items to your stash regularly.

Can I cancel an auction I posted?

You will have 5 minutes to cancel auctions for equipment (weapons and armor) that you put up in the auction house, after which point the auction is permanently committed until it sells or the 48-hour auction period expires. Auctions for commodities can be cancelled at any time. There are no fees for cancelling an auction in either case.

How do I “cash out” from the real-money auction house?

As an advanced feature, players in certain regions will have the option of attaching an account with an approved third-party payment service such as PayPal to their Battle.net account. Once this has been completed, proceeds from the sale of items in the real-money auction house can be deposited into their third-party payment service account. “Cashing out” is then handled through the third-party payment service. Players must decide whether to use this method before posting an auction. Note, however, that if receiving the proceeds of a sale into a player’s Battle.net Balance would put that player’s balance over the maximum permitted balance, the player must receive the proceeds through an approved third-party payment service (in regions where available).In regions where an approved third-party payment service is not available, once a player’s Battle.net Balance reaches the maximum permitted balance, the player cannot make further sales on the real-money auction house.

Note that the process of sending proceeds to a third-party payment service will be subject to applicable fees charged by Blizzard and the third-party payment service. Also, any proceeds from the sale of items in the real-money auction house that have been sent to the player’s Battle.net Balance will not be transferrable to the third-party payment service account.

What are the region-specific details for claiming my auction house earnings? Which regions have a “cash-out” option?

Every real-money auction house will offer players the ability to store auction earnings in their Battle.net Balance up to the maximum permitted Battle.net Balance. As an advanced feature, players in certain regions will have the additional option to have the proceeds paid to their PayPal account instead of storing the earnings in their Battle.net Balance. Players must choose which method they wish to use prior to posting an auction, on a per-auction basis.

Note that if receiving the proceeds of a sale into a player’s Battle.net Balance would put that player over the maximum permitted balance, the player must receive the proceeds through PayPal or another approved third-party payment service (in regions where available). In these cases, the player will be instructed to contact customer service for further assistance. In regions where PayPal is not available, once a player’s Battle.net Balance reaches the maximum permitted balance, the player cannot make further sales on the real-money auction house.

The following options are available in each game region and real-money auction house:

The Americas Game Region

USD Auction House – Battle.net Balance and PayPal

MXN Auction House – Battle.net Balance and PayPal

AUD Auction House - Battle.net Balance and PayPal

BRL Auction House - Battle.net Balance only

CLP Auction House - Battle.net Balance only

ARS Auction House - Battle.net Balance only

Europe Game Region

EUR Auction House - Battle.net Balance and PayPal

GBP Auction House - Battle.net Balance and PayPal

RUB Auction House - Battle.net Balance only

Asia Game Region

Real-money auction house not available at launch

Real-money auction house access is determined by the country of residence registered to your Battle.net account.

Can I use Battle.net Balance I have in one currency to make purchases on the real-money auction house for a different currency?

Battle.net Balances for different currencies are separate and cannot be used interchangeably. For example, you cannot use USD-based Battle.net Balance in a non-USD-based auction house. In addition, you are not able to transfer Battle.net Balance based in one currency to or from Battle.net Balance based in a different currency. For more information, see the Battle.net Balance FAQ.

In the gold auction house, you will receive the gold from your sale (minus the transaction fee) immediately. In the real-money auction house, the proceeds of a successful sale (minus the transaction fee and transfer fee, if applicable) will be reflected in your Battle.net Balance or approved third-party payment service account after a minimum 24-hour processing window. In most cases, the auction proceeds will appear within 72 hours, although in rare cases this could take up to 5 days.

Are there any account-security measures tied to the real-money auction house?

Players will be required to attach a Battle.net Authenticator, free Battle.net Mobile Authenticator, or Dial-In Authenticator (where available)in order to carry a Battle.net Balance over $100 USD (or equivalent local currency). For more information about how to obtain an Authenticator, please visit this page.

Players who wish to use PayPal to charge up their Battle.net Balance or to “cash out” funds earned in the real-money auction house will be required to sign up for our Mobile Alerts SMS authentication service in Battle.net.When you sign up for the Mobile Alerts service, you will receive a text message on your mobile phone containing a code that you must enter on Battle.net to verify your identity. Once verification is complete, you can then move forward with your transaction.After this initial verification, you will be prompted to enter anew SMS code from time to time when accessing a feature that uses PayPal.Note that standard SMS messaging rates apply -- check with your cell phone carrier for details.

Is there a cap on how much I can have in my Battle.net Balance?

If you choose to receive your auction proceeds in the form of Battle.net Balance, there are a few limits you should be aware of. Once your Battle.net Balance reaches $250 USD or above (or equivalent local currency), you will not be able to post new Battle.net Balance auctions until you bring your balance below that amount. In certain cases where your Battle.net Balance significantly exceeds this maximum(as the result of a series of especially high bids for items you posted, for example),you will need to create a PayPal account in order to receive proceeds (in regions where available), and will be instructed to contact customer service for further assistance.
What’s the minimum and maximum bid I can set for an item?

In the gold-based auction house, the minimum you can list an item for is 100 gold, and the maximum is 100,000,000,000 gold.

In the real-money auction house, the minimum you can list an item for is $1.25 USD (or equivalent local currency). The maximum you can set is $250 USD.

I won a bid for an item in the real-money auction house -- why is it showing up as “Pending” in my Completed tab?

We expect the vast majority of real-money auction house purchases to be delivered to buyers immediately; however, in some rare circumstances, we may need to hold items for delivery while we conduct a review of the transaction. Held items will show as “Pending” until the review is complete.

Will buying or selling items in the auction house reveal my identity?

No. All player transactions in the gold-based and real-money auction houses will be anonymous. The auction house will not display your real name, your character name, or yourBattleTag.

Will there be a mobile or Web-based auction house?

We're always on the lookout for opportunities to enhance the game experience and keep our community connected to our games through the Web or mobile devices. However, we do not have any plans to share along those lines at this time.

Will the auction houses be available as soon as the game launches?

The gold auction house will be available at launch,and we plan to bring the real-money auction house online approximately one week after the game’s U.S. launch. This is a new service that includes lots of complex elements, so we are going to take some extra time to ensure the game gets off to a good start before we open the real-money auction house for business.

Will there be a delay in accessing the auction house after I purchase Diablo III, as there is with digitally upgrading from the World of Warcraft Starter Edition?

The gold-based auction house will be available for use immediately. For security reasons and to ensure the integrity of the real-money auction house service, players who purchase the digital version of Diablo III may have to wait up to three days after buying the game to access the real-money auction house.

Please note that players who purchased the game digitally three or more days prior to the launch of the real-money auction house (see above) will not be affected by this requirement, as the three-day access delay will have already been accounted for within the one-week launch delay of the real-money auction house noted above.

AUCTION HOUSE - REGIONAL

Which regions will have real-money auction house support?

Diablo III’s servers are divided into three game regions -- The Americas, Europe, and Asia -- and each game region has its own set of separate real-money auction houses as follows:

The auction houses for each currency are completely independent, meaning items posted for sale in one will not appear in another. For example, an item listed in the USD auction house will not appear in the AUD auction house, and vice versa.

Players have access to real-money auction houses in their “home” game region only, as determined by the country of residence registered to the player’s Battle.net account. In addition, players in certain countries may only have access to a subset of the real-money auction houses in their home game region. Players in all three game regions will have access to the gold-based auction house for the region in which they’re playing.

By default, the Diablo III auction house system will automatically determine the most appropriate real-money auction house for you and display that in the auction-house selection interface. Players interested in participating in auction houses for other currenciesavailable to them (as determined by the country of residence register to their Battle.net account) can do so via an advanced featurein the game’s option menu.

To determine which real-money auction houses you have access to, refer to the table for your home regionlinked below.

The Americas- home game region for players in North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia

Europe- home game region for players in the European Union, Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa, and Middle Eastern countries such as Israel and the United Arab Emirates

Will I be allowed to bid on items from players outside my own region?

Due to various factors, including technology, currency, and regional regulations, the auction house for each currency is completely independent, and serves different player communities around the world. You will only be able to bid on items in the auction houses you have access to as described above, and items cannot be transferred or posted across game regions.

If I live in Australia/New Zealand/Southeast Asia, what server will I play Diablo III on?

Diablo III players in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia will, by default, connect to the Americas region. By connecting to this region, players will have a wider pool of people to play with and access to a more vibrant and active auction house marketplace.

How does this impact the items I have purchased in the auction house?

Auction house purchases are bound to the servers in the region in which they're bought. Any items acquired on game servers in the Americas region are bound to those servers and are not transferrable to the servers in Europe or Asia (and vice versa). Please keep this in mind when making purchases in the auction house.

Can players purchase items using local credit cards or bank accounts?

The real-money auction house will support the following regional payment methods at launch:

What options are available for receiving the proceeds of auctionhouse sales in each region?

Players who have access to anyreal-money auction house will have the ability to store auction earnings in their Battle.net Balance (up to the maximum permitted Battle.net Balance). As an advanced feature, players in certain regions will have the additional option to have the proceeds sent to their PayPal account instead of storing the earnings in their Battle.net Balance. The process of transferring proceeds to PayPal will be subject to a 15% transfer fee, calculated based on the amount being transferred.Players must choose which method they wish to use prior to posting an auction, on a per-auction basis.

Note that if receiving the proceeds of a sale into a player’s Battle.net Balance would put that playerover the maximum permitted balance, the player must receive the proceeds through PayPal or other approved third-party payment service (in regions where available). In these cases, the player will be instructed to contact customer service for further assistance.In regions where an approved third-party payment service is not available, once a player’s Battle.net Balance reaches the maximum permitted balance, the player cannot make further sales on the real-money auction house.

The following options are available in each game region and real-money auction house:

The Americas Game Region

USD Auction House – Battle.net Balance and PayPal

MXN Auction House – Battle.net Balance and PayPal

AUD Auction House - Battle.net Balance and PayPal

BRL Auction House - Battle.net Balance only

CLP Auction House - Battle.net Balance only

ARS Auction House - Battle.net Balance only

Europe Game Region

EUR Auction House - Battle.net Balance and PayPal

GBP Auction House - Battle.net Balance and PayPal

RUB Auction House - Battle.net Balance only

Asia Game Region

No real-money auction house at launch

Are real-money auction house purchases and sales taxable?

Tax laws vary by region, and it's possible that you may be required to pay tax on income you collect from real-money auction house sales. Certain states also impose a sales tax on all digital purchases, which is collected at the time a player purchases an item from the real-money auction house. Check your local tax regulations or consult a tax advisor for more information.

Can I access a different region’s real-money auction house if I use a different language-version of the game? Will I lose access to my own region’s real-money auction house if I do so?

Real-money auction house access is determined by the country of residence registered to your Battle.net account, so in general, you will have access to the same auction houses no matter what language client you play in. The only exception at launch will be the Korean-language client, which does not contain the interface for the real-money auction house.

For a variety of gameplay and security reasons, we will not be supporting bots or mods in Diablo III, and they’ll be expressly prohibited by our Terms of Use.

Can Hardcore-mode characters use the real-money auction house?

No. Hardcore characters will only have the option to buy and sell items together with other Hardcore characters via a separate "Hardcore-only" gold-based auction house; they will not be able to use the real-money auction house. Hardcore mode is designed as an optional experience for players who enjoy the sense of constant peril that comes with the possibility of permanent death for a character. All of a Hardcore character’s items are forever lost upon that character’s death, so to avoid the risk of a player spending real money on items that could then be permanently lost when the character dies, we decided to restrict the use of the realm-money auction house in Hardcore mode.

If my character dies in Hardcore mode, will I lose the items that I purchased in the "Hardcore-only" gold-based auction house for that character?

Yes. Again, Hardcore-mode characters will only have access to a "Hardcore-only" gold-based auction house, not the real-money auction house, and will not be able to trade with non-Hardcore characters. Hardcore is an optional mode designed for players who enjoy playing with the risk of permanently losing their character if the character dies, and that includes the items they acquired with that character.

Can I just buy the most powerful items and breeze through the game?

Items will be level-restricted, meaning your character won't be able to use an item until he or she is at the appropriate level for that item.

AUCTION HOUSE - CUSTOMER SUPPORT

What happens if there is a patch and the item I purchased is altered?

It's important for us to ensure that Diablo III remains balanced and fun for years after launch. To that end, it may be necessary to change stats or alter abilities of items from time to time. It’s very important to note that Blizzard will not be providing refunds or making other accommodations if a purchased item is later altered in a patch. Given this, it's up to players to determine whether they're comfortable purchasing items in the real-money auction house.

Someone bought an item on my account without my permission. Can I get a refund?

Please note that account sharing isa violation of the Battle.net Terms of Use, and we will not be providing refunds for issues resulting from account sharing. In cases of compromise, our customer service team will look into the situation and determine the appropriate course of action.

I accidentally lost or dropped an item I just purchased -- can I get a refund?

No. After a purchase is made, players will be responsible for what they do with the item.

How will you address bots or cheaters?

We take cheating very seriously, and we've designed Diablo III and Battle.net to include measures to detect and prevent unfair play.In addition, we will have anti-cheating policies in place and will take action to address anyissues as they arise.